Gang smashed windows with bricks and a Ford Fiesta to steal goods worth £100,000

Seven men from a ‘smash-and-grab’ criminal network stole more than £100,000 worth of watches, artwork and designer goods, a court has heard.

Robbers used sledgehammers, bricks and a Ford Fiesta to crash their way into a series of high-end London stores between May and August 2025.

Now, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the string of offences was all linked to the same ‘criminal network’ operating near Paddington in west London.

Christopher Gibbs, 43; George O’Hare, 42; Paul Hughes, 42; Anthony Munday, 40; Lee James McCready, 46; Matthew Windrass, 50; and David Rigelsford, 37, will be sentenced on March 17.

One of the defendants, McCready, of Uxbridge, was on licence for murder committed in 2005 when he took part in a robbery where almost £60,000 worth of watches and jewellery were stolen in broad daylight from Suttons and Robertsons store on Edgware Road, London.

CCTV footage of the incident seen in court showed two men rushing up to the shop front wearing balaclavas and carrying sledgehammers.

The two men, identified as McCready and Windrass, proceeded to snatch watches and jewellery through the windows before running back to a ‘getaway driver’ in a silver Jaguar, later identified as Munday.

William Sneddon, prosecuting, said: ‘On seeing the two males leave via the store’s security cameras, Mr Keaney (the store manager) exited the store. A large crowd had gathered, and a lot of people were filming.

‘He assessed that around five watches and some jewellery items, valued at a minimum of £59,930.00, had been stolen. The whole incident lasted approximately nine minutes.’

Defending Munday, Kane Sharpe said: ‘The sledgehammers were not carried as weapons but as tools, to carry out what was essentially a smash-and-grab burglary.’

In another burglary caught on CCTV, involving Gibbs, O’Hare and Hughes, the robbers used a Ford Fiesta to crash through the doors of a Fendi store on Sloane Street, London.

They can then be seen grabbing designer handbags before escaping using a motorbike and a silver Mercedes.

Gibbs was also sentenced for using a ‘paving block’ to smash through the locked front door of Clarendon Fine Art before stealing two pieces of framed art, collectively valued at £66,500, along with another unknown man.

Across the group, five successful burglaries of London shops were committed between May and July 2025, with a similar technique being used each time. A total of £146,356 worth of items were stolen during those incidents.

There were also two unsuccessful burglaries of an apothecary in Marybone and a watch shop in Westminster, the court heard.

Rigelsford, of Kilburn, was also separately convicted of a hotel robbery, two car thefts and an attempted theft of a rucksack from a vehicle.

Gibbs, McCready, Windrass, O’Hare and Munday were located and arrested in a series of coordinated raids on August 5, 2025.

Hughes and Rigelsford were arrested and charged with their involvement on September 29, 2025.

All seven men have been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on March 17 for the following offences:

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